Few teams have dominated a conference like the Gonzaga Bulldogs have dominated the West Coast Conference since the start of the 21st Century. Gonzaga has won the WCC Conference Tournament 18 times and a share of the regular season conference championship 21 times since 2000, so it’s no surprise the Zags haven’t missed the NCAA Tournament since 1998. The BYU Cougars were supposed to challenge Gonzaga upon joining the WCC in July 2011, but that has yet to happen, and now the Cougars are set to leave for the Big 12.
The Gonzaga Bulldogs are one of the top teams in the country once again under Mark Few, but they have struggled away from home this season. Gonzaga is 2-1 in true road games, and the Bulldogs nearly lost to both San Francisco and Santa Clara last week. That has the BYU Cougars optimistic they can pull off the upset when they meet on Thursday, January 12, 2023, at 9:30 p.m. ET on ESPN from the Marriott Center in Provo, Utah.
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Odds Analysis
There have yet to be college basketball betting odds released for this game as it will take place late Thursday night. Some sportsbooks will have a CBB betting line for this game as early as Wednesday evening though.
Gonzaga Bulldogs
According to Ken Pomeroy, Gonzaga has the fourth-best offense in the country. The Bulldogs are ranked eighth in effective field goal percentage, and they make a large percentage of their two-point attempts.
Drew Timme is one of the nation’s top players and leads the Bulldogs in points (21.8 PPG), rebounds (7.9 RPG), and field goal percentage (61.5%). He is a senior that doesn’t have many pro prospects, so he has stayed in Spokane for all four years and has improved each season.
Guards Julian Strawther and Rasir Bolton are both strong perimeter shooters. Strawther is averaging 13.9 PPG while making 48.2% of his field goals and 43% of his three pointers, and Bolton is averaging 11.3 PPG while making 43% of his field goals and 41.8% of his treys. Strawther plays inside a lot and crashes the boards too, so he is averaging 7.3 RPG.
Gonzaga’s starting five is pretty much set at this point with Malachi Smith, Ben Gregg, and Hunter Sallis taking turns coming off the bench as part of the rotation. Gregg and Sallis are sophomores, so look for them to get more run as long as they play at a decent level.
BYU Cougars
The BYU Cougars have three quality wins to their credit so far this season. BYU knocked off Creighton and Dayton at neutral sites, and the Cougars beat Utah in Provo last month. They have an awful loss to South Dakota though, and defeats at the hands of Utah Valley and Loyola Marymount don’t look great.
Fousseyni Traore leads BYU with 12.8 PPG and 7.9 RPG. Traore is a 6’6 and 240 pound powerhouse that is making over 60% of his field goals, and this will be his biggest opportunity to have an impact yet this season.
Rudi Williams is averaging 12.3 PPG and Gideon George is averaging 11.9 RPG, but the only solid perimeter shooter on the team is Spencer Johnson. He is making 41.2% of his threes, and that’s necessary considering the rest of the Cougars are making less than 30% of their threes as a team. BYU has a major problem with turnovers too, as the Cougars are giving the ball up on 22.3% of their possessions.
Gonzaga at BYU Free Pick
This is an important game for Gonzaga. The Bulldogs need to prove they can win on the road against a flawed BYU team, and a loss here would lead to some soul searching.
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